Behind the Scenes AT THE MUSEUM

Poppy Benner speaks to Ainsley Vinall, Assistant Curator at the William Morris Gallery, about his favourite object in the collection

- Poppy Benner

Although I loved visiting museums when I was young, I never thought about working in one. I studied English Literature at university, thinking I might go into publishing or a marketing role, but in my final year I took a module on Pre-Raphaelite art and poetry, which made me start looking at paintings in a different way. I knew I wanted to work with artworks.

After an MA in Art History and Curating at the University of Birmingham, I was lucky enough to secure an internship at the Skissernas Museum in Sweden. I moved to Nottingham when I returned to the UK, volunteering in a couple of museums and working at Artcore, a visual arts charity in Derby. I moved down to London when I started at the William.

Morris Gallery and have been assistant curator here for four years, looking after our amazing collection of paintings, drawings, textiles and furniture, as well as working on the exhibitions programme.

My days can be very varied - I might be helping a researcher in our reading room, writing labels for an upcoming exhibition, leading guided tours or cataloguing design drawings in our collections store.